We hiked this trail during a day trip from Portland on September 1^st. It took us over 3 hours of driving to reach the trailhead, which is off Highway 58, 60 miles away from Eugene. While driving on Highway 58, watch for the Gold Lake Campground sign to not miss the turn. Once you turn on Gold Lake Rd, you have to drive about 2 miles to the trailhead itself. It is a narrow, bumpy road with a few pullouts along the way. I highly recommend using the trailhead’s GPS coordinates to navigate to the exact spot, otherwise, it is very easy to miss. There is a pullout across from the trailhead, which can accommodate approximately 5 cars. The Maiden Peak Trail (#3681) is a multi-use trail used for hiking, mountain biking and skiing. It is well-marked – has a few signs (1-mile mark on a tree, the sign marking 2 miles from the trailhead, a couple of other signs at intersections with other trails) and blue diamonds on trees along the entire trail to guide skiers during the winter season. It is about 3,000 elevation gain, so it is a quite challenging trail, but it gives you warm-up time at the beginning with a very gentle couple of miles before it gets steeper and steeper. Please be aware that this trail will go through a forested area all the way up, so there are no opportunities for views until you reach the summit.  The trail surface is very good with some sandy spots and rocky sections closer to the top. The trail was not crowded at all – we met only 4 hikers and 2 cyclists during 6 hours of hiking time. About 0.3 miles away from the summit, you will come to the first overlook point where the trail will be rocky. You have to make a sharp turn at this point and get through the final stretch to the summit.  The views at the top are amazing and it was not windy at all. One of the cyclists reached the top together with us and I asked how long it usually takes to ride down. He said it was just 20 min bike ride and it took us 2 hours to hike back 😊. While at the summit, don’t miss the UGSG marker, look for it behind the big pile of rocks – it is golden and looks pretty cool.